COLUMBUS COUNTY -- A 21-year-old murder is solved. That's what Columbus County deputies are saying after arresting a suspect in 21-year-old murder case.
The suspected murderer was in court Wednesday morning.
Terrance Munn stood before a judge Wednesday, accused of killing a 79-year-old woman back in 1986.
Margaret Massangill is the victim's daughter. She said, "It was hard to believe after almost 21 years, because I had almost given up hope that they would ever get him."
More than two decades ago Margaret Massangill found her mother Zelma Walters dead, stabbed 22 times in her own bedroom.
Margaret says she has lived in fear ever since knowing her mother's killer was still on the loose.
"Unless you've been though it you can't describe it. You have good days and you have bad days, and most of them are bad," Massangill said.
But now Walters's cold case may finally be coming to a close.
A New Jersey traffic accident lead Columbus County deputies and the State Bureau of Investigation to Terrence Munn.
"It was a relief to know that whoever did it would be punished, hopefully," Massangill said.
Deputies were able to nab Munn after re-submitting DNA evidence from the crime scene to the SBI lab.
Two decades of technological advancements helped bring new evidence to light that investigators were not able to find the first time around.
Columbus County Sheriff Chris Batton said, "The big break is the result from the SBI lab and the legwork that our detectives did."
The Walters family is grateful to finally have some closure, and deputies have the same kind of hope for other cold cases.
"If we have any type of evidence that comes up at all, anything at all, whether it be a person who gives us info that says someone may be involved, we investigate it," Sheriff Batton said.
Munn is also charged with arson. Detectives say he set Zelma's house on fire after he killed her.
Sheriff Batton says Munn didn't comment at all on the case when he was arrested.

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